Institute of Gender Studies | University of Chester

Established in 2016, the Institute actually has a history going as far back as 2011 when members of the Institute’s original team hosted a one-day symposium to gauge interest in ‘gender studies’ across the University.

There was, as the team had hoped, genuine interest across the disciplines, and the symposium’s momentum continued into the biennial ‘Talking Bodies’ conferences held at the University in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023.

The core tenets of the Institute of Gender Studies are inclusivity and interdisciplinarity. The team are committed to providing not only a platform for established researchers and practitioners working in the field, but also for undergraduate and postgraduate students from a range of disciplines.

As well as a regular seminar series, the Institute also offers an innovative and exciting MRes (Masters by Research). This degree, the first of its kind in the region, educates, nurtures, and engages students with an interest in gender studies who are in the process of finishing an undergraduate degree, and wondering what to do next, as well as people from the wider community who may have been out of formal education for some time. Further, the Institute is a hub for a number of doctoral students whose work encompasses, or is engaged with, gender studies.

For further information on any aspect of the Institute’s work, please contact its Director, Professor Emma Rees: e.rees@chester.ac.uk.